Composite (New York City Subway Car) - Background Information

Background Information

New York's IRT subway would prove to be the first attempt at an underground heavy rail subway. For example, the underground portion of Boston's Green Line, which opened in 1897, had been light rail. Therefore the IRT and its chief engineer George Gibbs felt compelled to develop a subway car that would be stronger and safer than any previously designed railway cars. This inevitably led them to the conclusion that it would be best to design an all steel car to run in the new tunnels.

However, car manufacturers of the time were unwilling to undertake such an experimental proposition. Steel was deemed too heavy for any practical applications. Conventional wisdom of the day (since proven to be false) held that an all steel car would vibrate itself to pieces, claiming wood was "necessary" for its damping effects on the car's vibration. It was also widely believed that a steel car would be very loud, and poorly insulated from temperature extremes such as heat and cold. With a large backlog of orders for wooden cars, manufacturers had no incentive to explore the new technology as there was still plenty of demand for wooden railcars. The IRT knew that the October 27, 1904 opening of the new subway route was fast approaching, and that rolling stock had to be designed and built soon or the line would not be ready. With time running short to order rolling stock, a wood-based alternative had been proposed - a protected wooden car to be known as a Composite.